Chapter 327: 少摸摸

As soon as the man finished speaking, everyone's attention turned to Zu An, mostly with an air of amusement. This guy, uneducated and untalented, had managed to marry the most beautiful woman in Brightmoon City. Lately, there were also rumors about his ambiguous relationship with Qiu Honglei from the Divine Immortal Pavilion. He was clearly an affront to other men, so it was natural for everyone to dislike him.

Xie Daoyun looked at Zu An with some concern. She knew that these scholars were inherently proud and refused to bow to power, so Zu An was likely in trouble today. However, she was also curious whether a man who could compose such a song would be able to resolve the current crisis.

Wang Yuanlong was as anxious as an ant on a hot griddle. Intervening might harm the reputation of the Four Quarters Pavilion, but not intervening would offend Zu An, and potentially even the Chu family behind him. Left with no choice, he gestured to his subordinates, signaling them to find a way to remove the troublemakers. As his subordinates were about to step forward, Sang Qian moved ahead, blocking their path.

Zheng Dan glanced at him, a playful smile on her face. She had clearly caught on, but she wasn't worried about Zu An at all. That guy was so cunning; how could he possibly be easily taken advantage of?

Sure enough, Zu An said with a smile, "May I ask for the esteemed name of this great scholar?" His tone and expression showed no sign of nervousness.

The man with the triangular eyes fanned himself, "It's nothing. I am Xu Qinsong from Spark City." He spoke with a triumphant look, as if his name itself represented glory.

At his words, the surrounding crowd immediately began to murmur.

"Never heard of him. Is he famous?" Zu An picked his ear.

Xu Qinsong's breath hitched.

At this moment, Xie Daoyun quietly reminded him, "This Xu Qinsong is a famous scholar from Spark City in the neighboring county. You should be careful."

Xu Qinsong smiled slightly and bowed to her. "Miss Xie, you flatter me. I've long heard that Miss Xie is the most talented woman in Brightmoon City, and I've admired you for a long time. I would be honored to discuss poetry and literature with you."

"You are too kind, Young Master Xu," Xie Daoyun replied, nodding. Her etiquette was impeccable, but her eyes showed no emotion. Seeing her lack of interest, Xu Qinsong's smile froze. He immediately realized that she was currently Zu An's companion and probably found it inconvenient to interact with him because of that. So, he glared fiercely at Zu An again.

Zu An thought, *This guy got rejected by a beauty, why is he taking it out on me?* He said aloud, "Alright, alright, you just want to provoke me into a contest, don't you? Tell me, how do you want to compete? Horizontally or vertically?" *What a joke. I went through nine years of compulsory education and was influenced by all those clever people online. How could I lose to a native of this world?*

Hearing him agree immediately, Xie Daoyun was slightly surprised. It was too late to stop him. She thought, *How could he be so reckless? If he had just shown a little humility at the beginning, this whole situation would have passed. Could the other party really follow him upstairs if he didn't?*

Xu Qinsong, however, was overjoyed. He had come to Brightmoon City specifically to make a name for himself, and Zu An was the perfect stepping stone. He had initially worried that Zu An would refuse to compete, but the man had actually jumped into the trap himself. So he quickly said, "It's simple. I'll give you a few couplets. If you can answer them, I'll acknowledge your qualification to go upstairs."

Zu An scoffed, "Who do you think you are? Do I need your approval to go upstairs? The only reason I agreed to this challenge is because you're practically begging for a beating, and it would be rude of me not to oblige." Everyone was dumbfounded. This guy was incredibly arrogant. Even Xie Daoyun frowned slightly. She had heard of Xu Qinsong's literary reputation and wasn't even confident she could decisively defeat him. Where did this guy get such self-confidence? While he was skilled in composing music, that was completely different from literary talent.

Xu Qinsong had never encountered such an arrogant person. Suppressing his anger, he said, "In that case, please accept my challenge."

"My first couplet is: 'A general shoots a tiger, the bow is strong, the stone is hard.'"

Many self-proclaimed scholars in the crowd began to ponder the first line, and even Xie Daoyun knitted her brows in thought. This seemingly simple character-splitting couplet referenced a historical allusion. Historically, a general once spotted what he thought was a fierce tiger in the wilderness. In a panic, he drew his bow and fired an arrow. Upon closer inspection after hitting it, he realized there was no tiger; it was just a rock shaped like one. However, his arrow had deeply pierced the stone, and people praised his immense strength. Therefore, coming up with a suitable response was quite challenging.

Zu An, however, scoffed. He had thought the scholars of this world possessed some real talent, but was this all they had? So he immediately replied, "'A consort drunk, her body still reclines, her hands, do not touch.'"

Xie Daoyun silently recited the second line. It was indeed a very neat match, but its meaning was a bit... unconventional. Zheng Dan pursed her lips and smiled. This guy certainly had a peculiar talent.

Xu Qinsong's finger trembled as he pointed at Zu An, his face flushed crimson. "You... this is an insult to scholarship!"

Zu An smiled slightly. "What do you mean, 'insult to scholarship'? This is clearly a warning. You're just thinking perversely, aren't you?"

Xu Qinsong huffed resentfully. "Alright, you got that one. I have another couplet for you, listen closely. I don't believe you can use such a trick again."

"A match is a match. What do you mean, 'alright, you got that one'? Show me what else you've got. But judging by your level, I doubt you can come up with any truly profound couplets," Zu An said with a look of disdain.

A sharp glint flashed in Xu Qinsong's eyes. "Listen closely. The first line is: 'Among a hundred virtues, filial piety comes first; often go home and visit!'"

As soon as this couplet was uttered, the room fell silent. Everyone's gaze shifted between the two men with strange expressions. Everyone knew that Zu An had lost both his parents at a young age, and even the uncle who raised him had died. Where did he have a home to go back to? As for the Chu family, he was merely a live-in son-in-law. According to the prevalent values of this world, that was generally not considered his true home. For a man with no family, where was he supposed to go visit?

Xie Daoyun also frowned. "Young Master Xu, you've gone a bit too far."

Xu Qinsong smiled slightly. "Miss Xie, I don't understand what you mean. Is there anything wrong with my first line? Everyone should acknowledge its truth, shouldn't they? Does it somehow not apply to him?"

Xie Daoyun opened her mouth but ultimately said nothing. Explaining on Zu An's behalf now would only fall into Xu Qinsong's trap and cause Zu An to lose face. She glanced at Zu An worriedly, but to her surprise, she found no expression of embarrassment or anger on his face.

Zu An looked at Xu Qinsong. "Brother, your dark circles are quite prominent."

"What's it to you?" Xu Qinsong snorted. "For scholars like us who study day and night, it's normal to have dark circles from lack of sleep."

"That's odd," Zu An chuckled. "According to what you just said, does that mean anyone without dark circles isn't diligent in their studies? Miss Xie is the most talented woman in Brightmoon City, and she doesn't have dark circles." He pointed to Xie Daoyun beside him.

Xie Daoyun's face slightly reddened, wondering why he was dragging her into this. The crowd admired Xie Daoyun's flawless complexion, showering her with praise, and then turned to glare angrily at Xu Qinsong.

Xu Qinsong hastily waved his hands. "That's not what I meant. It must be due to different individual constitutions."

Zu An had anticipated his response. He pointed to others around them. "Look, hardly anyone else has dark circles either. Does that mean they're all less diligent than you?"

Xu Qinsong, naturally aware of the difficulty of offending public opinion, immediately became flustered. "You're slandering me! That's not what I meant!"

"Oh, I see," Zu An laughed. "It seems you've likely overindulged and weakened your body."

"That's slander!" Xu Qinsong roared with anger. But then he quickly regained his composure. "If you can't come up with a response, just admit it! Why are you rambling on about irrelevant nonsense?"

"Who said I can't?" Zu An smiled mysteriously. "Your first line was 'Among a hundred virtues, filial piety comes first; often go home and visit.' Based on your personal situation, I'll give you a second line: 'Among a myriad evils, lust is the first; go out and touch less.'"

The entire hall fell silent for a moment, then erupted in laughter. Even Xie Daoyun's face was flushed with embarrassment. This guy was truly inventive; every couplet he composed seemed to revolve around words like "touch."

Xu Qinsong's face instantly turned bright red. "You... you... this is an insult to scholarship, an insult!" Unfortunately, his voice was already drowned out by the laughter of the amused crowd.

Witnessing all this, Sang Qian, who stood nearby, couldn't help but curse under his breath, "Useless!"

As if provoked, Xu Qinsong exclaimed loudly, "I have more couplets, more..." With his talent, it should have been easy for him to come up with couplets. However, the previous two had been "solved" by Zu An's use of the word "touch," leaving Xu Qinsong doubting himself and unsure how to formulate a new first line to regain the upper hand.

Seeing him hesitate, Zu An smiled. "Alright, you've been giving the challenges so far, and I've answered them all. Now it's my turn to challenge you."